Sanofi sues Eli Lilly over challenge to top diabetes drug Lantus

By Bill Berkrot and Natalie Huet NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi is suing Eli Lilly and Co for alleged patent infringements concerning its top-selling Lantus diabetes treatment, delaying the U.S. firm's plans to produce a copycat version of Lantus. Lantus is the world's most prescribed insulin product, with annual worldwide sales of about $7 billion, but is set to lose patent protection in the United States, the world's largest pharmaceutical market, in February 2015. Sanofi's lawsuit, filed on Thursday, triggers an automatic 30-month stay of approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), keeping Lilly's biosimilar drug off the U.S. market until mid-2016, more than a year later than its previously expected launch date. Sanofi's shares were up 0.7 percent at 73.87 euros by 0947 GMT.



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